Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Did the St. Louis Cardinals BLOW Their Chance to CASH IN on Romero? Dustin May Contract Details!

Starting point is 00:00:00 The reliever market is surging ahead, yet the Cardinals have held on to their top lefty Jojo Romero, risking a lost opportunity that could shape the team's trade future. You are Locked-on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey there, Carlos fans. I'm J.D. Haffron, a former national radio sports anchor, born and raised in St. Louis and a lifetime Cardinals fan. And welcome to another episode of Locked on Cardinals. Part of the Lockdown Podcast. network. Now the number one sports podcast network. Thank you to our everydayers for continuing to be here with us each and every day. And for those of you who are brand new to Locked on Cardinals, I hope you enjoy this content. This is a show that serves Cardinal Nation. It gives you all the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by Fandall. If you be right in the

Starting point is 00:00:52 middle of the action this season, visit fandle.com and place your NFL live vets all season lock. On today's show, we've got news and notes from around the league, including a new NL suitor for Alex Breggman, which could affect the Nolan Aronado trade market a bit, who was selected as the likely new number one prospect for the Cardinals when J.J. Weatherholt is finally brought up. Plus, we got the figures for the new Dustin May contract to talk about as well. But we start today's show with the trade market for Cardinals left hand or Jojo Romero. Now, trades involving Brinidad Donovan, Wilson Contreras, and Nolan Aronado. They're certainly going to create bigger headlines than a Jojo Romero trade if and when they have. happen. But the need for bullpen arms is at a frenzy right now. Like the market's going crazy for all the relievers with teams signing multiple guys, not just relievers, but also closers. Like some of these guys are doubling up on guys that are considered closers. We've had former Cardinal first round pick, Luke Weaver, has jumped from the Yankees to the Mets on a two-year deal joining Devin Williams. Right-handed Brad Keller is moving from the Cubs to the Phillies on a two-year deal.

Starting point is 00:02:02 they already have Yohan Duran, closer Kinley Jansen is headed to Detroit on a one-year deal. He's joining closer Kyle Finne again, who re-signed there on a two-year deal. The Cubs ended up losing Keller, but they have signed left-handers Hobie Milner and Caleb Thielbar, along with former Cardinal Phil Maton. So they're really making some moves as far as the look of their bullpen coming up this year. The Reds re-signed Emilio Pagan. It got Keegan Thompson and brought in lefty Caleb Ferguson. The Angels have grabbed left-hander Drew Pomerans and right-handed Jordan Romano.

Starting point is 00:02:37 The Braves re-signed Razel Iglesias, but then also brought in Robert Suarez to pair with him. So you got two considered top of the line closers there in Atlanta. They also brought in Yoel Paiomps and lefty Danny Young. So the Braves redoing their whole bullpen, it seems like. Edwin Diaz goes to the Dodgers, Ryan Helsley to Baltimore, Tyler Rogers to Toronto, Mark Leiter Jr. to the A's. Like I'm just going through the list here. Chris Martin, Tyler Alexander, and Alexis Diaz go to the Rangers.

Starting point is 00:03:06 Gregory Soto went to Pittsburgh, Jason Foley and left east Sam Hinchis to the Giants. And there's other ones out there. Those are just some of the more notable names that have been signed to other teams already. And in this game of reliever musical chairs, the Cardinals who are looking to cash in on teams looking for back of the bullpen aren't specifically left-hander. and hoping that they'd be willing to trade some solid assets in exchange for the services of Joe, Joe Romero, might get left out, might not be happening. And so far, they haven't found a deal that they like as far as we know. And now I'm wondering if they will.

Starting point is 00:03:46 I don't know. And I'm not one of those that says, yeah, we got to get rid of them. I'm okay with Jojo coming back. I think that's fine. Some fans question the idea of trading him at all when they don't have any left-hand of relievers of depth behind him. Kett is the only person, like on the 40 man? So it's a fair question. Like, what are we doing?

Starting point is 00:04:07 Our buddy Jeff Jones from the business news Democrat wrote about the Cardinal shopping Romero while also doing some shopping for their own bullpen in the process, specifically in left the left-handed market. In his article, which I'll link in the description and the show notes, he describes the situation as this. By trading Jojo Romero, now in capitalizing on a market that is, hungry for left-handed relievers, the cardinals give themselves two opportunities. If they receive assets for Romero in the short term, those can become long-term pieces in the

Starting point is 00:04:39 organization. Any free agent signed is also likely to be on a one-year deal or at most one-year with an option for a second and could become another trade asset in August. So you could say they're doing kind of the same thing that they're doing with Brennan Donovan, if you really think about it, neither Donnie or Jojo have to be traded. All right, this is not something we're like, We got, it's not like Nolan Aronado where they're trying to get his money off the books. They want to open the spot for somebody else. You know, Brennan, Donovan, they would find a spot for him. You know, Jojo's got a spot, a big spot in this bullpen right now.

Starting point is 00:05:15 They don't have to trade these guys. But if the market surrounding them has teams willing to overpay for them, you at least have to see how none of these teams will get. You just got to check it and see what they're willing to do. And it's not like Jojo doesn't have the stats. to back up the idea of asking for a decent amount of return for him. Jeff threw this nugget out there in this article as well. Among full-time left-handed relievers who have thrown at least 100

Starting point is 00:05:39 innings over the last three seasons, Romero ranks fourth in the majors in ERA Plus, which measures pitchers against league average. The three Southpaws ahead of him, Josh Hater, Tanner Scott, and Rolace Chapman. Have all been big money-free agents considered among the elite of the game's bullpen arms. we do not speak of Jojo Romero as one of the elite left-handed arms in baseball. But when you look at some of the stats, maybe you should. Maybe he should be thought of that way. And if you're going to trade him, should be traded as one of the best left-handed pitchers in the game.

Starting point is 00:06:14 But as teams continue to fill their rosters, design guys, I'm just beginning to wonder if the time for a deal has passed or are the Cardinals cooking up trades that could include, you know, multiple players where it could be Donnie and Jojo going somewhere. I mean, think about the massive haul that you would get in return if you put both of them in one deal. Like, what could that net you? Probably something decent, but I don't know if they're going to do that or not.

Starting point is 00:06:41 That remains to be seen. But even if they don't move Jojo and they hang on to them, they still need to sign someone to face lefties behind Romero. So the names that remain out there are still the guys that I've been mentioning since the offseason started, really. Danny Kallum, Sean Newcomb, Andrew Chafin, they all make sense. Veterans, specifically Chafin and Colom,

Starting point is 00:07:05 who are, you know, older veterans that are used to being on the move. It's not anything new to them. Newcomb's also bounced around a little bit, but I wonder if somebody's going to overpay for Sean Newcomb. I'm not sure, but either way, those are three guys that I feel like would fit. You can toss in other guys that, you know, are a tier below in my opinion.

Starting point is 00:07:23 opinion. Jalen Beaks, Taylor Rogers, Brent Souter, Camboozer, Taylor Saucato. All of them have found success at the major league level in some way, shape, or form. None of them have been as good as Jojo by any means. So depending on how big other team's needs are for a lefty at this point, the Cardinals might still have some shoppers,

Starting point is 00:07:46 but I wonder if they're just going to end up keeping them and sign one of these other guys to fill in as depth behind him. you know, try to shop him near the trade deadline instead. Obviously, there's a risk. There's a risk involved there with injury, with production, you know, declining. It could happen. We saw it happen to Ryan Helsley. He stayed healthy, but production declined.

Starting point is 00:08:06 So it wasn't quite as big a haul as we thought we were going to get. And then you look at what he did with the mats afterwards. You're like, I'm glad we got anything at all for him. But he's Baltimore's property now. So, but where are you on the idea of trading Jojo Romero? Do you prefer it to still happen? Do you want to keep them at this point? Any of those lefties that I mentioned?

Starting point is 00:08:27 Do they stand out to you as somebody you would want in a Cardinals uniform coming up this season? Let me know down in the comments section and on X. The numbers for Dustin May's contract are in. We'll share those with you next. Plus who was selected as the heir apparent to J.J. Weatherholt's throne as the Cardinals' number one prospect. We'll talk about it next on Locked on Cardinals. NFL Sundays move fast, one big play, And suddenly everything feels different.

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Starting point is 00:09:56 We'll see how the Seahawks can handle it because they didn't handle Philip Rivers all that well against the Colts. They got the win, but it wasn't pretty. So if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fandle.com place your NFL live bets all season long. Bandwold, the game moves fast and so can you. Thank you for making Locked on Cardinals your first listen of the day. And thank you for making Locked on the number one sports podcast network.

Starting point is 00:10:23 You already live your team every day. So why not take it up a level and go ad free? You can join the Everydayer Club today and get locked on Cardinals with no interruptions, members only Discord access, and more all for just five bucks a month or $50 a year. You go to locked on STL Cardinals.supercast.com or check the link in the show notes to learn more. So Dustin May, we knew that signing it was going to happen, wasn't official yet, and we didn't know what the numbers were. But that deal has been finalized.

Starting point is 00:10:52 It happened late here on Wednesday afternoon. and, you know, I kind of had it between Chris Roycroft and Matt Coperniac. I mean, when I was thinking about when I'm putting this together and I'm like, all right, who's more likely to get DFA? Because it had to make a move eventually. And you knew it was going to come today if they were going to announce the numbers. They were going to be like, all right, well, somebody's got to go. We thought maybe that a trade might be going down or something.

Starting point is 00:11:19 That didn't happen. It was Matt Coperniac who ended up getting the bad news on Wednesday. had that big year in 2024 for Memphis when he hit 309, 20 bombs, 73 Rebys. It was coming off a nice 2023 where he had a combined 287s with 18 home runs and 85 RBIs at AAA and AAA. Most of that damage done in AAA, by the way. But last year, the numbers slipped. He dipped 246 average 14 home run, 65 RBIs.

Starting point is 00:11:45 It's going to be 28 years old in February. It could still be brought back because there's certainly going to be fans that are like, how the hell can you cut Copernia? They're going to be out there. They're going to be out there. And it's not over. He can be brought back. He may have seven days to trade, release,

Starting point is 00:12:00 or send him outright to the miners. So it may not be goodbye just yet. But if he was a right-handed hitter, he'd have a better shot at sticking around. We just have so many lefties already. And it's something that they got to balance out, man. They've got to get some right-handed hitters in here. So you know what else they have acquired a decent amount of recently, too,

Starting point is 00:12:20 to go along with all the lefties they got redheads. Have you noticed that? So you got Dustin May with the, do I have a crazy picture of Dustin? Here's a good one. There's a good one with this crazy carrot top do coming out. You got Chris Roycroft who's still here. And I get why because he's 6-8 and they feel like they can do something to make him, you know, really hard to hit, although it hasn't come to fruition.

Starting point is 00:12:47 But 6-8, he's got a gnarly beard. Zach Kent's got a strong ginger beard as well. they got him from Cleveland. Liam Doyle is kind of a reddish blonde. Team fire, man. Let's go. But anyways, here's the numbers for Dustin May. As reported by all the normal characters out there,

Starting point is 00:13:07 Jeff Passon, Derek Gould, etc. He's going to make $12.5 million this year. And the mutual option for the 2027 season is for $20 million. Jeff Jones adds that per his source, Dustin May's 26th salary is actually $12 million. has a $500,000 buyout on the $20 million mutual option, making 12.5 is his total guarantee. Got to pull on X, asking whether you think it's an overpay or not.

Starting point is 00:13:36 Early voting so far strongly in the direction of no, they did not overpay. 77.3% of the vote last time I looked, it was continuing to roll. So feel free to jump online and check it out. If you haven't already, we'll talk more about this subject in an upcoming episode. as far as whether or not it was an overpay or not for Dustin May. But at least you got the numbers now. When you think about, and everybody is going to think about 12.5 million and go, oh my gosh, that's so much money.

Starting point is 00:14:05 But is it, isn't that much money in this game of baseball these days? Like, what have the Cardinals paid some of these other crappier pitch? What were they paying Miles Michaels last year? All right. Think about that. We'll get back to that subject in another episode, okay? But I did see this. I want to bring this up.

Starting point is 00:14:21 saw this on MLB.com. Sam Dykstra wrote this yesterday, and he went through all the teams and all the organizations, guessing who's going to be each club's number one prospect a year from now. J.J. Weatherholt has been the guy for the Cardinals, basically since they drafted him. Currently right behind him, it is Liam Doyle at number two, according to MLB Pipeline.

Starting point is 00:14:44 So he would be the easy choice to take over the mantle, right? First round pick, left-hand of blame thrower, known for the heat on his fastball, as well as that fiery personality that he brings on the mound, which I still wonder if that's going to rub some Cardinal fans the wrong way, just the way he is on the mound. You know, a lot of swagger. And you know Cardinal fans, we're Midwest people.

Starting point is 00:15:05 So I wonder if people are going to get annoyed by that. But we'll see. But that is not who Dykstra chose. He did not. He went for the guy who currently resides at number three on the list, and that's 18-year-old catcher, Rayneo Rodriguez. Now, Dykstra writes, after moving stateside in 25, Rodriguez could be a 30-home-er thread before he reaches his 20s.

Starting point is 00:15:25 And that's incredibly valuable for someone who makes a living behind the plate. Now, if you haven't seen footage of the soon-to-be-19-year-old, he does have a birthday coming up on January 4th, so he will be 19. Still teenager, though. You're really doing yourself a disservice. Go look it up because the guy absolutely mashes the baseball. nukes, tanks, bombs, whatever you want to label, hard hit balls these days. He does it. He hits the hell out of him.

Starting point is 00:15:55 Last year was technically his second season in pro ball, but it was his first like full season. First year in 2024, he was in the Dominican Summer League and went bonkers. 345, 10 home runs, 38 RBIs in 41 games. Then last year started in the Florida complex. Put a picture of them up there for you. is started in the Florida Complex League hit 3.73, seven dangar, 16 ribbons and 20 games, gets bumped to A ball at Palm Beach,

Starting point is 00:16:24 249 but 13 home runs, 43 RBIs and 60 games. Then he gets up to high A Peoria for 40 games before the end of the season. No home runs, but bad at 294, drove in four, and just 17 at bats. Like the swing, he just looks, like when he steps in the box,

Starting point is 00:16:43 you know how you can just tell when somebody looks like he can kill the baseball. That's what this kid looks like. He's an absolute unit. I sure as hell did not look like him when I was 18 years old. Look at the thick legs. If you're looking on the video version right now, look at the thick legs, the base,

Starting point is 00:17:01 which you love in a catcher. He's 5'10. Nice big target to throw two for pitchers. Pitchers love that. Six three guys that are lean. It's not as good. 510 with a big butt. and big leg, that's what we want to throw it to, big targets.

Starting point is 00:17:19 So you can see why scouts are excited about him and why he's ranked number six among all minor league catchers in baseball by MLB Pipeline. So a huge future for this kid and really glad that the Cardinals are the ones that will get to enjoy the fruits of his labors. And another note to this by Dykstra not picking Doyle, this was another thing that I just thought of, by not picking Liam Doyle. perhaps Dykstra believes that he might already be up on the on the big club by this point next year. Could happen.

Starting point is 00:17:49 Could happen. He pitches really, really well at AA next year, which is where I think he's going to start and does really, really well at AAA. And you see guys either get traded or you see guys go down with injuries. I could see a Liam Doyle appearance in the major leagues next year. Talking about a guy coming out of college. This is not somebody who's coming up from high school. So I could see it. I could see it.

Starting point is 00:18:13 I don't think that they want that to happen. I hope that that doesn't need to happen. But he's good enough, you know, in my opinion, I'll watch him. You know, I wanted to see JJ Weatherholt this year, but they said, eh, it's the rush, no big deal. I get it. I get it. But it could happen.

Starting point is 00:18:34 And Rodriguez, in my opinion, is likely to begin at high AP oria says he just sniffed it four game 17 of bats there last year. It will probably get to double A this year at some point. Leonardo Bernal, who's their other big catching prospect, he should be a AAA. But at some point, you've got Herrera, you got crooks, you got Pahas, you got Pozo still in the organization as well. So a nice stable of catchers, which is a good thing to have.

Starting point is 00:19:00 MLB news and notes are next, including a new National League team that might be in on Alex Bragman, which could affect what's going on with Dillon Aranado in the future. We'll talk about it next on Locktown Cardinals. Did Locked on Cardinals make your Spotify wrap, then prove it on social media to secure a free month of our brand new Everyday Air Club. Just tag our national Locktown Podcast Network account

Starting point is 00:19:29 on any social platform. We'll drop you a code. And you can be one of our first people to join the Everyday Air Club, which we just launched to get your favorite show, get it ad free, which is great, and exclusive access to the members-only Discord channel. So there hasn't been a whole lot going on with, Nolan Aronado, which we kind of expected, right?

Starting point is 00:19:51 Nothing. There hasn't been a lot going on with the third base market in general, which is why you're not hearing much about Aronado. He's not top of the totem pole. He's down here in the pecking order and the top guys are still available and haven't gone anywhere. Alex Bregman, E. E. E. E. Hanyo Suarez, Murakami from Japan, although I was reading that most people think he's

Starting point is 00:20:14 going to be a first baseman, but, you know, there's still a few guys ahead. of Nolan R not. John Heyman reports that a new NL team is in on him and is thinking about talking Alex Bregman, and that's the Arizona Diamondbacks. We know that they've been shopping, could tell Marte. So that's something that needs to get worked out, obviously, if you're going to add another big contract like an Alex Bregman. Marte, by the way, did you guys see that where the Cardinals were on his no trade list?

Starting point is 00:20:44 then there wasn't a lot of people on there. And it's kind of random teams like no Cardinals, no Yankees, no pirates, no giants, no A's. How are the Cardinals? And how'd they get on that list? What the hell did we ever do to you, man? But the Red Sox, as far as I could tell, clearly one to bring Alex Bregman back.

Starting point is 00:21:05 He was a good fit. They seemed to like him. Top option there. Cubs have been mentioned as well as somebody who's interested in Alex Bragman, would hate to see him come to the NL Central. don't need to do that because he's good. Arizona and Boston are two spots.

Starting point is 00:21:20 I thought Nato might fit in. So if he ends up at one of those two, the other person might be looking for a third basement still. The other one was the Phillies. They still got to move Alec Bome if they decide to do that and bring in Aronado as like a veteran guy. They would fit in their clubhouse. I feel like that could work too.

Starting point is 00:21:38 But again, Alec Bollum is still there. So we'll see what ends up happening. I know a lot of people are getting worried that Aronano is going to be back at St. Louis this year and then we're going to be stuck with them, which is like a horrible thing to say, considering who Nolan Aronado is. But I understand it.

Starting point is 00:21:54 This is two years in a row where we're like, dude, let's just rip the band-aid off. Let's get you somewhere else, where you can be happy and finish off this contract. And man, it just isn't happening, is it? So we'll see. Maybe somebody else come up with an idea. I also heard somebody thinking about,

Starting point is 00:22:12 is it Morosi, John Paul Romeroci that was talking? I don't know. I watched so many videos that's hard to keep up. But I feel like he was talking about, you know, if Seattle would be interested in getting Donovan and Aronado, if the Cardinals could make that work somehow. I don't know. I don't know.

Starting point is 00:22:30 That seems awfully complicated. But I don't know, maybe they can work it out. The smart people are in charge. Speaking of the Phillies, after signing Adolese Garcia, they now have their outfield full. Garcia's in right. Brandon Marsh is going to be. Center. They've got their prospect, Justin Crawford, in left field, Otto Kemp is there.

Starting point is 00:22:49 Weston Wilson is there as well. Nick Castiano appears to be the odd man out in Philly, another former cardal nemesis, if you remember his days with the Cincinnati Reds. He's going to get moved at some point, it seems, source told them will be.com's Todd Zolecki, that they have found little to no interest on the trade market for Nick Castiano's, even with the club willing to pay millions of Castellanos's salary and that if he isn't traded, they will release him. It feels like a very Nolan Aronado situation, right? Cardinals are looking for right-handed bats last time I checked.

Starting point is 00:23:27 I know he's not very good in the outfield. I'm just throwing it out there. If you're looking for a veteran bat, one year left on his deal, it's $20 million, but if Phillies are able to eat a ton of that, change of scenery guy. Something to prove. Got some attitude, which I'm not against. Don't know what the financials would be, but I'm just throwing it out there.

Starting point is 00:23:51 Would you be interested in Nick Castiano's? Think about it. Just think about it. Don't react right away. Let me know in the comments. And then I just felt like this was not a sad story, but talk about timing. John Kenzie Noel, otherwise known as Big Christmas, designated for assignment by the audience today gets the bad news eight days before Christmas seven days depending on when you're listening to this before Christmas. Oh, it's rough, man. Six three, two hundred fifty pound outfielder crazy pop, right? 27 home runs at AAA in 2023 can hit it a ton. Still just 24 years old, but strikes out a ton as well. A lot of swing and mess in his game. So I'm sure he'll find a home

Starting point is 00:24:40 somewhere if he's not back with Cleveland. But another right-handed bat, big dude, young, just throwing it out there. Just throwing it out there. I'm not saying it's the smartest move. Just throwing it out there. What do you guys think about it? Costiano's, Noel, I don't know, I don't know.

Starting point is 00:24:59 Think about it. Think about it. Let me know in the comments. Thanks for making Lockton Cardinals your first listen every day. If you haven't already, give us a follow-on exit, L.O. underscore Cardinals at a JD Sports Radio, TikTok, and Instagram at Lockton. on Cardinals, like, subscribe on YouTube and help our channel and love for the Cardinals. Go. Grow. Sorry, go, grow. We're going

Starting point is 00:25:17 because we're moving on from this episode. For those of you who are on video, we are going to send you to the first ever 24-7 National Lockdown Podcast Network YouTube channel on audio. Make sure that your second listen is locked on MLB, which is where accidentally the Cardinals audio was sent yesterday. Apologies, that was my fault. We'll make sure it gets in the right spot this time around. You're the best fans of baseball. for a reason we'll see you next time all locked on cardless

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Did the St. Louis Cardinals BLOW Their Chance to CASH IN on Romero? Dustin May Contract Details!

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